By Lena Moser
On Saturday, July 15th, seven young birders and their families set out on the Maine Audubon puffin cruise to Eastern Egg Rock. This tiny, 7-acre island is famous for being the most easily-accessible Maine island for observing nesting Atlantic Puffins. We were well-rewarded with fabulous looks at puffins up-close, including a couple that flew right over the boat! Laughing Gulls were abundant, as were Common Terns, though we picked out a few Roseate Terns, too. Other highlights were a Bonaparte's Gull, Bald Eagles, a young Northern Gannet, and some cool mammals like Harbor Porpoise and over one-hundred Harbor Seals! Everyone left the trip happy, especially since the puffin was a "lifer" (a first-time-seen) bird for many.
A big thank you to Maine Audubon for sponsoring this trip for the young birders and club coordinators. Also thanks to naturalist Doug Hitchcox for adeptly navigating children, parents, wildlife spotting, and announcing/interpreting - all at the same time! We appreciated his excellent leadership on this trip.
The full eBird checklists for our trip can be found below.
New Harbor to Eastern Egg Rock
Eastern Egg Rock to Franklin Island to New Harbor
Photos by Lena Moser and Nathan Hall.
